Systems and methods for integrating XML syndication feeds into online advertisement

ABSTRACT

A system for providing XML syndication content to an Internet advertisement panel rendered in a web browser is disclosed. The system includes a web content server, an Internet advertisement server, and a XML syndication content feed site server. Both the web content server and the Internet advertisement servers are in communications with the web browser. The web content server is configured to respond to requests from the web browser for a web page and to deliver the web page to the web browser. The Internet advertisement server is configured to choose and deliver an Internet advertisement panel, having embedded XML syndication content, to the web browser. The XML syndication content feed site server is in communications with the Internet advertisement server and is configured to send XML syndication content updates to the Internet advertisement server.

APPLICATIONS FOR CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/469,630 filed Sep. 1, 2006, which in turn claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/714,382 filed Sep. 6, 2005. Thedisclosure of the above-identified application is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The embodiments disclosed in this application generally relate tointernet advertising and more specifically to integration of XMLsyndication content into Internet advertising.

2. Background of the Invention

Extensible Mark-up Language or XML is a web document specification thatuses tags to describe the contents of a field. It is very similar toHypertext Markup Language (HTML), but unlike HTML it allows designers tocreate their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission,validation, and interpretation of data between applications and betweenorganizations. Several families of XML-based formats are routinely usedby webmasters to create files containing web content (e.g., newsheadlines, summaries of specific information, audio files, video files,etc.) for syndication across the Internet. Examples of these families ofXML syndication formats are RSS and Atom. Of the two families, RSS isthe most widely used because of its simplicity for developers.

Typically, syndicated content is delivered in the form of syndicationfeeds that are subscribed to directly by users with aggregators or feedreaders, which combine the contents of multiple web content feeds fordisplay on a single screen or a series of screens. Depending on theaggregator, subscription is done by manually entering the URL of a feed,by clicking a link in a web browser or by various other methods. Newerversions of many popular web browsers tend to include built-inaggregator features, thus negating the need for a user to subscribe toan aggregator or feed reader.

While the majority of XML syndication feeds currently contain newsheadlines or breaking information, the long term uses of XML syndicationfeeds are more diverse. For example, the feeds can be used by Internetadvertising companies to interactively deliver Internet content toconsumers, to seamlessly integrate dynamically updated content withInternet advertising media, and to deliver dynamically updated data(e.g., statistics, results, etc.) to consumers.

Currently, there is no way to fully realize the potential long-term usesfor XML syndication feeds in Internet advertising. For example, thereare insufficient means to integrate XML syndication feeds with Internetadvertising to dynamically deliver a more content rich experience toconsumers.

SUMMARY

Methods and systems for integrating XML syndication content withInternet advertising.

In one aspect, a system for providing XML syndication content to anInternet advertisement panel rendered in a web browser is disclosed. Thesystem includes a web content server, an Internet advertisement server,and a XML syndication content feed site server. Both the web contentserver and the Internet advertisement servers are in communication withthe web browser. The web content server is configured to respond torequests from the web browser for a web page and to deliver the web pageto the web browser. The Internet advertisement server is configured tochoose and deliver an Internet advertisement panel, having embedded XMLsyndication content, to the web browser. The XML syndication contentfeed site server is in communication with the Internet advertisementserver and is configured to send XML syndication content updates to theInternet advertisement server.

In another aspect, a method for providing a dynamically updated Internetadvertisement panel to a remote user is disclosed. A request for theInternet advertisement panel is received. Archived information issearched regarding previous communications with the remote user and theInternet advertisement panel is selected based on previouscommunications with the remote user. The selected Internet advertisementpanel is created and XML syndication content configured to allow forupdates is embedded into the Internet advertisement panel. The selectedInternet advertisement panel is sent to the remote user in a format thatpermits the remote user to view and interact with the selected Internetadvertisement panel. A profile for the remote user is updated withinformation about the selected Internet advertisement panel and thenarchived in a storage area.

In still another aspect, a method for updating XML syndication contentin an Internet advertisement panel is disclosed. XML syndication contentdata is received from a XML syndication content feed site server. TheXML syndication content is stored in a storage area. The XML syndicationcontent data to include in the XML syndication content update file ischosen in accordance with a set of criteria. An Internet advertisementpanel with the XML syndication content update file embedded within iscreated. The Internet advertisement panel is sent to a remote clienthosting the Internet advertisement panel.

These and other features, aspects, and embodiments of the invention aredescribed below in the section entitled “Detailed Description.”

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the principles disclosure herein,and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the followingdescriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating multiple Internet content serversworking collaboratively to deliver Internet advertising and XML-basedsyndication content to a client in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a web browser window that includes anadvertisement unit with a XML syndication feed embedded within, that canbe delivered by the servers illustrated in FIG. 1 in accordance with oneembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the results when a hyperlink in the XMLsyndication feed for FIG. 2 is selected by the user during a websession;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a web browser window that includes anadvertisement unit with a XML syndication feed embedded within that canbe delivered by the servers illustrated in FIG. 1 in accordance withanother embodiment;

FIG. 5, is a diagram illustrating a web browser window that includes anadvertisement unit with multiple XML syndication feeds embedded withinthat can be delivered by the servers illustrated in FIG. 1 in accordancewith still another embodiment;

FIG. 6, is a diagram illustrating what happens when a user interactswith either an interactive poll feed or a hyperlinks feed in accordancewith one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a web browser window that includes anadvertisement unit with a XML syndication feed embedded within and awindow displaying poll results and hyperlinks in accordance with oneembodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a XML multi-media feed embedded withinan advertisement unit in accordance with one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An invention is described for methods and systems for integrating XMLsyndication content with Internet advertising. It will be obvious,however, that the present invention may be practiced without some or allof these specific details. In other instances, well known processoperations have not been described in detail in order not tounnecessarily obscure the present invention.

As used herein, the Internet or World Wide Web (WWW) uses ahypermedia-based system for enabling the browsing of Internet sites. Asits name implies, the WWW (i.e., Internet) is made of many websiteslinked together allowing users to travel from one website to anothersimply by clicking on hyperlinks. To access the web, a user (i.e.,client) typically runs a web browser program (e.g., Firefox™, NetScape™,Internet Explorer™, etc.) that assists the user in navigating from amongthe various websites on the WWW and renders the web pages associatedwith those websites for viewing by the user.

As discussed above, RSS is a family of XML-based formats that includesmany competing variants developed by different groups throughout itsdevelopment. A quick summary of those variants and their definitions ofwhat the RSS acronym stands for include: RDF Site Summary (RSS v. 0.90,v. 1.0, and v. 1.1), Rich Site Summary (RSS v. 0.91), and Really SimpleSyndication (RSS v. 2.0 and RSS v. 3.0). It should be appreciated thatthese are just some examples of RSS formats and are not meant to limitthe types of RSS formats available for the present invention.Essentially any RSS type format can be used as long as the format is XMLbased. Atom refers to Atom Syndication Format (used mainly for webcontent syndication feeds) or Atom Publishing Protocol (used mainly as asimple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating Web resources).

In one embodiment, the XML syndication content feed is integrated as asub-panel within an Internet advertisement panel. Using thisconfiguration, the feed sub-panel containing the XML content feed(s) canbe worked into a variety of sizes and be placed at any location withinthe advertisement panel by the advertisement server administrator. Inanother embodiment, the XML syndication content feed can be integratedas a hidden feed display panel within the Internet advertisement panel.In this configuration, the feed display panel is revealed only when amouse pointer is placed over the Internet advertisement panel. It shouldbe appreciated, however, that the integration methods described aboveare only examples of ways in which a XML syndication content feed can beintegrated with an Internet advertisement panel. In practice, the XMLsyndication content feed can be integrated with the advertisement panelin any configuration as long as the XML content feed can be effectivelydelivered and understood by a user viewing the content feed.

In view of the foregoing, it should therefore be fully appreciated thata variety of Internet based content (i.e., Internet advertising, news,etc.) can benefit from the systems and methods described herein.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of how multiple Internet content servers canwork collaboratively to deliver Internet advertising and XML-basedsyndication content to a client, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe systems and methods described herein. As depicted, a client 102using a web browser is in communications by way of the Internet 103 witha web content server 104, an ad server 106, and a XML syndicationcontent feed site server 108. It should be appreciated that the client102 can be in communications with multiple servers of each server type(e.g., web content server 104, ad server 106, etc.) and that singleservers were used in this depiction for the sake of simplicity and isnot intended to limit the scenario to single servers of each servertype.

The XML syndication content feed site server 108 may be connected to thead server 106 by way of the Internet 103, a local area networkconnection, or any equivalent thereof. During an Internet 103 websurfing session, the client 102 makes a request for a web page 110 fromthe web content server 104, which then sends the requested page 110 backto the client 103 in the form of a Hyertext Markup Language (HTML) orequivalent type file, e.g., XML, Extensible Hypertext Markup Language(XHTML), and Extensible Bindings Language (XBL). Embedded within the webpage 110 is a script 112 that instructs the clients' 102 web browser tosend a request for advertisement panels to be sent from the ad server106 to the client 102. Examples of programming languages that can beused to create the script 112 include, JAVASCRIPT™ and VBSCRIPT™. Itshould be understood, however, that the script 112 can be created usingany programming language as long as the script 112 can be processed bythe clients' 102 web browser to initiate a request for an advertisementpanel from the ad server 106.

Still with FIG. 1, in one embodiment, once the request is received, thead server 106 is configured to search file(s) containing the previouscommunications history with the client 102 to choose an appropriateadvertisement unit 116 to return back to the client 102. Examples ofhistorical information that may impact the advertisement units 116chosen include: information about which advertisement units 116 havealready been sent to the client 102, information regarding client 102response to those previous advertisements 116, and client 102demographics information. In another embodiment, once the request isreceived, the ad server 106 is configured to choose an advertisementunit 116 to send based on the web content server 104 that the client 102was in communications with prior to the creation of the request.

A syndication feed 114 is embedded into the ad unit 116 prior to the adserver 106 sending the ad unit 116 to the client 102. In one embodiment,the syndication feed 114 is created using a RSS-based format such as RDFSite Summary, Rich Site Summary, or Really Simple Syndication. Inanother embodiment, the syndication feed 114 is created using anAtom-based format such as the Atom Syndication Format (ASF). It shouldbe appreciated that the syndication feed 114 can be created using anyXML-based format as long as the XML syndication feed 114 can be embeddedinto an advertisement unit 116 and rendered by a web browser.

Continuing with FIG. 1, the types of content that can be delivered bythe syndication feed 114 is diverse and may include text, pictures,audio, and video elements. The various content delivered by the feed 114generally relate to a particular subject matter that may or may not berelevant to what is being marketed in the advertisement unit 116. In oneembodiment, the contents of the XML syndication feed 114 relate to thesubject of the advertisement unit 116 itself. For example, if theadvertisement unit 116 is marketing a new car model, the XML feed 114may be a poll that queries the client 102 about a preferred car make ormodel. In another embodiment, the content of the XML syndication feed114 is chosen based on the client's 102 interactions with theadvertisement unit 116. For example, a client 102 using a mouse to clickon an object or character depicted in the advertisement unit 116 mayresult in a XML syndication feed 114 providing news or information aboutthe object or character. Examples of programming languages that can beused to create advertisement units 116 that enable interactions with theuser include JAVASCRIPT™, VBSCRIPT™, ACTIVEX™, or FLASH™. It should beunderstood, however, that any programming language can be used to createinteractive advertisement units 116 as long as the resulting unit 116can be delivered through the Internet 103 and be processed by a webbrowser.

In one embodiment, the XML site server 108 is configured to send XMLsyndication content feed(s) 114 to the ad server 106, which providestemporary cache storage of the XML syndication feed 114 before sendingthe feed 114 to the client 102 via the Internet 103. These syndicationcontent feed(s) 114 are dynamically updatable In one embodiment, the XMLsite server 108 is configured to send XML content feed 114 updates tothe ad server 106 in accordance to a set interval schedule. For example,the XML site server 108 can be programmed to send the updates accordingto a time based interval (e.g., minutes, hours, etc.) schedule. Inanother embodiment, the XML site server 108 is configured to sendcontent 114 updates anytime new syndication content 114 becomesavailable. For example, the XML site server 108 can be programmed tosend a XML content feed 114 update whenever a new hyperlink is added tothe content feed 114. In still another embodiment, the XML site server108 is configured to send XML content feed 114 updates to the ad server106 whenever the XML site server 108 receives a request for updated XMLcontent from the ad server 106. The request may be self-initiated by thead server 106 in accordance with a set interval schedule or may be inresponse to a request sent by the client 102.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a web browser window that includes anadvertisement unit with a XML syndication feed embedded within, inaccordance with one embodiment. As shown herein, the browser window 200includes an Internet advertising unit 201 that is positioned above webcontent 203 in the browser 200. The advertising unit 201 includes anembedded XML content feed 114 within its boundaries. The XML syndicationfeed 114, as depicted herein, has a plurality of hyperlinks 206 eachlinked to specific web content 203 by way of a Universal ResourceLocator (URL) address set within the hyperlink 206. It should beappreciated, however, that the XML content feed 114 may contain any typeof web content (i.e., text, images, video, etc.) 203 as long as thecontent 203 can be displayed by the browser 200 hosting the feed 114. Inone embodiment, a text summary detailing the specifics of the webcontent that each hyperlink 206 is associated with is positionedadjacent to each of the hyperlinks 206. In another embodiment, a summaryof the web content 203 associated with each hyperlink 206 becomesvisible to the user when a mouse pointer is positioned substantiallyover the hyperlink 206.

By using a scroll bar 204, the user can scroll through the entire listof hyperlinks 206 available to the XML syndication feed 114. Eachhyperlink 206 may be associated with web content 203 that may be in thesame or in different formats (e.g., text, multimedia, etc.). Examples ofweb content 203 that can be connected via the hyperlinks 206 include:news stories, video feeds, product purchases, product information,sales, and marketing promotions. It should be understood that any webcontent 203 can be connected by hyperlinks 206 added to the XMLsyndication feed 114 as long as the content 203 can be accessed over theInternet and the content 203 format is supported by the web browser 200hosting the syndication feed 114.

Continuing with FIG. 2, as discussed in detail above, one significantadvantage of delivering content using a XML syndication feed 114 is thatthe web content 203 can be continuously updated via the XML syndicationcontent site servers that are connected to the ad server sending theadvertisement unit 201 to the client browser 200. This allows for avirtually constant stream of new web content delivered to a user and fortailored content to be delivered to the user to advance the objectivesof the Internet marketing campaign.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of what results when a hyperlink in a XMLsyndication feed embedded within an advertisement unit is selected by auser during a web session, in accordance with one embodiment. In thisillustration, a web content window 302 opens when the user selects oneof the hyperlinks 206 that are in the XML syndication feed 114 embeddedwithin the advertisement unit 201. The content window 302 can be, forexample, the news story associated with the chosen hyperlink 206.Alternatively, the content window 302 can be multimedia content (e.g.,images, audio, video, etc.) related to the chosen hyperlink 206. Itshould be appreciated, however, that the content window 302 can be usedto display essentially any type of web content associated with thehyperlink 206 as long as the content can be accessed over the Internetand the content format is supported by the web browser 200 hosting thesyndication feed 114. Additionally, the web content may or may notrelate directly to the subject of the chosen hyperlink 206.

Window 302 can be part of, or appear in content area 203 or, dependingon the embodiment, window 302 can be a stand alone window. In suchembodiments, the functionality of the content window 302 can appear thesame or similar to other conventional web pages; however, as previouslydiscussed, unlike conventional Internet advertisement units 201, thehyperlinks 206 in the XML syndication feed 114 embedded in theadvertisement unit 201 described herein can be updated dynamically by aXML syndication feed site server by way of the ad server delivering thead unit 201.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a web browser window that includes anadvertisement unit with a XML syndication feed embedded within, inaccordance with one embodiment. In this ad unit 201, the XML syndicationfeed panel 114 is configured to deliver an interactive poll 402. Userscan thus interact with and respond to the poll 402 that is containedwithin the XML feed panel 202. The poll 402 can be used to query theusers' opinions about a variety of subjects that may or may not berelated to the subject of the advertisement unit 201. As with the XMLsyndication feed panel 114 delivering hyperlinks described above, thepoll 402 can be dynamically updated by a XML syndication feed siteserver by way of the ad server delivering the ad unit 201.

Also depicted in this illustration, is a poll results window 403 thatdisplays the results of the interactive poll 402 after the user hasinteracted in some fashion with the poll 402. The interaction can be assimple as the user responding to poll 402 by choosing a box presented orit can involve multiple interactive steps such as choosing a box andadditionally choosing a poll selection submission button within the poll402. The results 403 may be in the form of numerical statisticssummarizing how other users have responded to the poll 402 or justdisplay the leading vote receiver. It should be appreciated, however,that the poll results 403 may be delivered in any format that can bedelivered over the Internet and is appropriate for the particularapplication. In one embodiment, as with the XML syndication feed panel202 described above, the poll results 403 can be dynamically updated bya XML syndication type feed 114.

FIG. 5, is an illustration of a web browser window that includes anadvertisement unit with multiple XML syndication feeds embedded within,in accordance with one embodiment. As depicted herein, the advertisementunit 201 includes two separate XML syndication feeds (i.e., aninteractive poll feed 502 and a hyperlinks feed 504). The XML feed atthe top left of the ad unit is an interactive poll feed 502. The pollfeed 502 is configured to deliver dynamically updated interactive polls402 to the ad unit 201 in the manner described above. Mainly, theinteractive polls 402 are updated by one or more XML syndication feedsite servers via the ad server delivering the ad unit 201. The XML feedbelow the interactive poll feed 502 is the hyperlinks feed 504 whichdelivers hyperlinks 206 associated with various web content that may ormay not be related to the subject of the advertisement unit 201. As withthe interactive poll feed 502, the hyperlinks feed 504 can bedynamically updated by one or more XML syndication feed site servers viathe ad server sending the ad unit 201 to the browser 200.

When a user interacts with either the interactive poll feed 502 or thehyperlinks feed 504 a new window can pop-up that displays the pollresults (i.e., poll results window 403) from the interactive poll 406 orthe web content (i.e., web content window 302) associated with thehyperlink 206 chosen, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6. Both the pollresults window 403 and the web content window 302 can be dynamicallyupdated by one or more XML syndication feed site servers via the adserver delivering the ad unit 201 to the browser 200 in the same manneras that described above.

It should be appreciated, that the types of XML feeds depicted hereinthe advertisement unit 201 are used for illustrative purposes only andshould not be interpreted to limit the categories of XML feeds that canbe embedded within the ad unit 201. The XML feeds can be of any type(e.g., multimedia, interactive poll, hyperlinks, text, blogs, etc.) aslong as the content in the feed is adaptable to be delivered in one ofthe available XML-based feed formats (e.g., RSS, Atom, etc.) and can bedisplayed by the web browser 200 hosting the XML feed. For example, thead unit 201 described herein FIG. 5 can just as easily be modified toinclude two XML feeds, one delivering multimedia content such as a videofeed, and the other delivering blog content.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a web browser window that includes anadvertisement unit with a XML syndication feed embedded within and awindow displaying poll results and hyperlinks, in accordance with oneembodiment. In this embodiment, the browser window 200 includes anembedded ad unit 201 that has an XML syndication feed 114 that isconfigured to deliver interactive polls 402 content. When a userinteracts with the interactive poll 402, a poll results/XML syndicationfeed window 702 pops up displaying both the poll results 403 and anadditional embedded XML syndication feed 114 with hyperlinks 206 to webcontent that may or may not be related to the subject of the interactivepoll 402.

If the user chooses to click on any one of the hyperlinks 206, a contentwindow 302 pops up to display the web content associated with thehyperlink 206 chosen. It should be understood that the web content canessentially be any text, image, or multi-media (i.e., audio, video,etc.) content as long as it can be delivered via the Internet and bedisplayed by the web browser 200 hosting the advertisement unit 201.Both the XML syndication feed 114 embedded within the advertisement unit201 and the poll results/XML syndication feed window 702 can bedynamically updated by one or more XML syndication feed site servers viathe ad server in the same manner as that described above.

FIG. 8, is an illustration of a XML multi-media syndication feedembedded within an advertisement unit, in accordance with oneembodiment. Depicted herein is a XML multi-media syndication feed 802 isembedded within an ad unit 201. The multi-media feed 802 is configuredto deliver multi-media web content (e.g., audio, video, games, etc.)that can be dynamically updated by one or more XML syndication feed siteservers via the ad server in the same manner as that previouslydiscussed above. In one embodiment, the XML multi-media content feed 802can be configured to automatically execute (i.e., play) any newmulti-media content 804 that it receives from the ad server as part of acontent update. In another embodiment, the multi-media content feed 802can be configured to require a user to actively initiate the playing ofany new multi-media content 804 introduced as part of an updateoperation.

The invention, described herein, may be practiced with other computersystem configurations including hand-held devices, microprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. The invention may alsobe practiced in distributing computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through anetwork.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that theinvention may employ various computer-implemented operations involvingdata stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiringphysical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, though notnecessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magneticsignals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, andotherwise manipulated. Further, the manipulations performed are oftenreferred to in terms, such as producing, identifying, determining, orcomparing.

Any of the operations described herein that form part of the inventionare useful machine operations. The invention also relates to a device oran apparatus for performing these operations. The apparatus may bespecially constructed for the required purposes, such as the carriernetwork discussed above, or it may be a general purpose computerselectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in thecomputer. In particular, various general purpose machines may be usedwith computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein,or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatusto perform the required operations.

The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on acomputer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any datastorage device that can store data, which can thereafter be read by acomputer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include harddrives, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-accessmemory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes, and other optical andnon-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can alsobe distributed over a network coupled computer systems so that thecomputer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been describedin detail herein, it should be understood, by those of ordinary skill,that the present invention may be embodied in many other specific formswithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore,the present examples and embodiments are to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limitedto the details provided therein, but may be modified and practicedwithin the scope of the appended claims.

1. A system for providing syndicated content to an Internet panelrendered in a web browser, comprising: an Internet server incommunication with the web browser, the Internet server configured tochoose and deliver an Internet panel to the web browser, wherein theInternet panel is chosen based on previous communications with the webbrowser, wherein the syndicated content is embedded within the Internetpanel; and a syndicated content server in communications with theInternet server, the syndicated content server configured to sendsyndicated content updates to the Internet server; wherein the Internetpanel is configured to receive updates from the Internet server withoutrequiring user interaction with the web browser.
 2. The system forproviding syndicated content to an Internet advertisement panel renderedin a web browser, as recited in claim 1, and further comprising a webcontent server in communication with the web browser, the web contentserver configured to respond to requests by the web browser for a webpage and to deliver the web page to the web browser, and wherein the webcontent server communicates with the web browser by way of an Internetconnection.
 3. The system for providing syndicated content to anInternet advertisement panel rendered in a web browser, as recited inclaim 2, wherein the Internet advertisement server communicates with theweb browser by way of an Internet connection.
 4. The system forproviding syndicated content to an Internet panel rendered in a webbrowser, as recited in claim 1, wherein the syndicated content servercommunicates with the Internet server through a connection that is oneof an Internet connection or a local area network connection.
 5. Thesystem for providing syndicated content to an Internet panel rendered ina web browser, as recited in claim 1, wherein the Internet serverincludes an internal memory cache to store syndicated contentcommunicated by the syndicated content server.
 6. The system forproviding syndicated content to an Internet panel rendered in a webbrowser, as recited in claim 1, wherein the web page contains embeddedscript configured to instruct the web browser to request the Internetpanel from the Internet server.
 7. The system for providing syndicatedcontent to an Internet panel rendered in a web browser, as recited inclaim 6, wherein the embedded script is written using a programminglanguage that is one of JAVASCRIPT™ or VBSCRIPT™.
 8. The system forproviding syndicated content to an Internet panel rendered in a webbrowser, as recited in claim 1, wherein the Internet server isconfigured to request syndicated content updates from the syndicatedcontent server in accordance to a pre-determined schedule.
 9. The systemfor providing syndicated content to an Internet panel rendered in a webbrowser, as recited in claim 1, wherein the syndicated content iscreated from a format that is one of RSS or Atom.
 10. The system forproviding syndicated content to an Internet panel rendered in a webbrowser, as recited in claim 9, wherein RSS is a syndication formatselected from a group consisting of Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0),Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91, RSS 1.0), and RDF Site Summary (RSS 0.9 and1.0).
 11. The system for providing syndicated content to an Internetpanel rendered in a web browser, as recited in claim 1, wherein thesyndicated content is selected from a group consisting of an interactivepoll, a hyperlink, an image, text, a video file, an audio file, and apoll results page.
 12. The system for proving syndicated content to aninternet panel rendered in a web browser as recited in claim 1, whereinthe syndicated content is selected from a group consisting of aninteractive poll, a hyperlink, an image, text, a video file, an audiofile, and a poll results page.
 13. The system for providing syndicatedcontent to an Internet panel rendered in a web browser as recited inclaim 1, wherein the panel is chosen based on information related towhat Internet panels have already been sent to the web browser.
 14. Thesystem for providing syndicated content to an Internet panel rendered ina web browser as recited in claim 1, wherein the panel is chosen basedon information related to responses received from the web browser inresponse to an Internet panel previously sent to the web browser. 15.The system for providing syndicated content to an Internet panelrendered in a web browser as recited in claim 1, wherein the panel ischosen based on demographic information related to a client associatedwith the web browser.
 16. The system for providing syndicated content toan Internet panel rendered in a web browser as recited in claim 1,wherein the panel is chosen based on a web content server that the webbrowser was previously in communication with.
 17. A method for providinga dynamically updated Internet panel to a remote computing deviceassociated with a remote user in a server, comprising: receiving arequest for the Internet panel; searching archived information regardingprevious communications with the remote user, wherein the searchincludes selecting the Internet panel based on the previouscommunications with the remote user; creating the selected Internetpanel; embedding syndicated content into the selected Internet panel,wherein the syndicated content is configured to allow for automaticupdates; sending the selected Internet panel to the remote computingdevice in a format that permits the remote user to view and interactwith the selected Internet panel; updating a profile for the remote userwith information about the selected Internet-panel; and archiving theprofile for the remote user in a storage area.
 18. The method forproviding a dynamically updated Internet panel to a remote user, asrecited in claim 17, wherein the syndicated content is selected from agroup consisting of an interactive poll, a hyperlink, text, an image, avideo file, an audio file, and poll results.
 19. The method forproviding a dynamically updated Internet panel to a remote user, asrecited in claim 18, further including, in the server, delivering thepoll results to the remote computing device when a response to theinteractive poll is submitted.
 20. The method for providing adynamically updated Internet panel to a remote user, as recited in claim17, wherein the format is selected from a group consisting ofJAVASCRIPT™, VBSCRIPT™, ACTIVEX™, and FLASH™.
 21. The method forproviding a dynamically updated Internet panel to a remote user, asrecited in claim 17, further including, in the server, prompting asyndicated content server to provide updates to the syndicated content,wherein the frequency of the prompting is between about 1 minute toabout 24 hours.
 22. The method for providing a dynamically updatedInternet panel to a remote user, as recited in claim 17, wherein thesyndicated content updates originate from a syndicated content server.23. The method for providing a dynamically updated Internet panel to aremote user, as recited in claim 17, further including, in the server,converting the syndicated content into HTML format prior to thesyndicated content being embedded into the selected Internet panel. 24.The method for providing a dynamically updated Internet panel to aremote user, as recited in claim 17, further including, in the server,creating the profile for the remote user before updating if there is noarchived information regarding the remote user.
 25. The method forproviding a dynamically updated Internet panel to a remote user, asrecited in claim 17, wherein the storage area is located in an Internetserver.
 26. The method for providing a dynamically updated Internetpanel to a remote user, as recited in claim 17, wherein the syndicatedcontent is created from a format that is one of RSS or Atom.
 27. Themethod for providing a dynamically updated Internet panel to a remoteuser, as recited in claim 26, wherein RSS is a syndication formatselected from a group consisting of Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0),Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91, RSS 1.0), and RDF Site Summary (RSS 0.9 and1.0).
 28. A method for updating syndicated content in an Internet panel,comprising in a server: receiving syndicated content data from asyndicated content server; storing the syndicated content data in astorage area; choosing the syndicated content data to include in asyndicated content update file in accordance with a set of criteria;creating an Internet panel with the syndicated content update fileembedded therein; and sending the Internet panel to a remote computingdevice hosting the Internet panel without first requiring userinteraction with the remote computing device.
 29. The method forupdating syndicated content in an Internet panel, as recited in claim28, wherein the set of criteria delineates which categories ofsyndicated content data to include in the updated syndicated contentfile.
 30. The method for updating syndicated content in an Internetpanel, as recited in claim 28, wherein the storage area is located in anInternet server.